Groundhog Day…And I Don't Mean The Movie

NEWS FLASH—7:30AM E.S.T. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2, PUNXSUTAWNEY, PENNSYLVANIA:  PHIL HAS EMERGED FROM HIS BURROW AND SAW HIS SHADOW.  SIX MORE WEEKS OF WINTER!

Unfortunately for Punxsutawney Phil, the official prognosticator of weather, there's a disturbance in the cosmos perched on the horizon waiting to swoop in a take over.  At least three challengers set to usurp his throne.

Every year on February 2 a furry rodent of the groundhog variety named Punxsutawney Phil sticks his head out of his burrow in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to do his annual weather forecast.  In the United States and Canada, this is celebrated as Groundhog Day.  If Phil sees his shadow, it will frighten him and he'll return to his burrow signaling six more weeks of winter.  If he doesn't see his shadow, he'll emerge and winter will soon be over.

At least, that's what the tradition claims.

The earliest American written reference to a groundhog day was 1841 in Pennsylvania's Berks County (Pennsylvania Dutch) referring to it as the German celebration called Candlemas day where a groundhog seeing its shadow was a weather indication.  Since the first official celebration of Groundhog Day in Pennsylvania in 1886, crowds as large as 40,000 people have gathered in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, for the annual celebration.  And in recent years it's been covered live on television.  Quite an accolade for the little ol' groundhog.

The groundhog, also known as a woodchuck, is a member of the squirrel family.  The current Punxsutawney Phil weighs fifteen pounds and lives in a climate controlled home in the Punxsutawney library.  On Gobbler's Knob, Phil is placed in a heated burrow underneath a simulated tree stump on a stage before being pulled out at 7:25AM to make his annual prediction.

Quite removed from the concept of the groundhog waking from hibernation and emerging from his burrow in the wild.  :)

Phil's forecasting accuracy isn't all that great.  He's only been correct 39% of the time.  Between 1887 and 2009 he's seen his shadow ninety-eight times (hmm…I wonder how many of those time was due to the television lights), has not seen his shadow fifteen times, and on nine occasions there was no record of what happened.

Punxsutawney Phil, the "Official" groundhog of Groundhog Day, has more than one challenger for chief weather prognosticator.  And just who are these brash interlopers?

There's a bullfrog named Snohomish Slew.  Punxsutawney Phil might have over a hundred years of experience on Snohomish Slew, but the bullfrog is a full three days earlier with his forecast.  Thanks to the Snohomish, Washington, Chamber of Commerce, Slew is guest of honor at a GroundFrog Day Celebration.

Unlike Phil, when Slew sees his shadow it calls for eight more weeks of "foggy, soggy weather" in the Pacific Northwest rather than Phil's six more weeks of winter.  However, Snohomish folklore dictates that whoever rubs the tummy of a frog on GroundFrog Day will be rewarded with eight weeks of good luck.

Another challenger to Phil's throne is a groundhog named Staten Island Chuck, a resident of the Staten Island Zoo in New York.  According to the Zoo, Chuck's accuracy rate since 1981 is better than 80 percent.  The Zoo's gates opened at 6:30 this morning, Eastern time, in preparation for Chuck's 7:30am appearance.

And in the Detroit area, we have Woody the Woodshuck who resides at the Howell Nature Center.  If Woody comes out to eat her food within a minute, that means spring will soon be here.  According to the Center, Woody has been right 11 times out of 14, a more accurate record than Phil's.

It appears that the field of Prognosticators of Spring is getting crowded.  :)

What Your Favorite Sandwich Says About You

Whether it's lunch or a midnight snack.  At home or in a restaurant.  Now and then or daily.  We all have our favorite sandwich.  It might be something simple from childhood that we turned into a more adult offering, or maybe something exotic.

But do you know what your choice of sandwich…your favorite…says about you and your character?  Put your horoscope and astrological signs aside and pay attention to your sandwich. :)

I recently came across a list of 10 popular sandwiches and what they say about those who consider that specific sandwich their favorite.  Now, this list only mentions the main ingredient and does not take into consideration how you dress up and customize that sandwich—specialty bread or roll, exotic cheeses, various spreads, other touches such as lettuce and/or tomato, etc.

TURKEY SANDWICH

If this is your first choice on the menu, you like to play it safe in life.  You like to know what to expect.  You're not interested in the latest fad.  All things classic make you smile.

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICH

You're predictable, but in a good way.  You're very loyal and your friends feel they can trust you with their lives.

BLT SANDWICH

If the bacon-lettuce-tomato is your favorite, you know how to spot a good thing.  You like to keep life simple, fill it with good times, and avoid drama.

GRILLED CHEESE SANDWICH

You're carefree, the life of the party, and specialize in having a good time.  Everyone loves you.

DONUT BREAKFAST SANDWICH

This might not be what you want to hear, but you are crazy intense.  That can have its down side, but it also means you're very passionate and a serious risk taker.  Nothing scares you.

MUFFULETTA SANDWICH (I have to admit that I don't know what this is and have never noticed it on a menu)

You're a mover and a shaker.  People come to you when they need a problem solved or just a good dose of inspiration.

PULLED PORK SANDWICH

You like to walk, not run.  You're a lover, not a fighter.  You always stop to smell the roses.

REUBEN SANDWICH

If this is your first choice, you have a bold voice and you're not afraid to make it heard.  Loud And Proud is your life motto.  You're the natural leader of any gathering.

TUNA MELT SANDWICH

You're an old soul.  Words flow from you like beautiful poetry.  You don't bother with appearances and you don't need to because you're so beautiful on the inside.

BOLOGNA SANDWICH

You're a hopeless romantic, swept up with feelings of nostalgia.  But you are going to have to grow up some time.

I don't know how they arrived at the 10 specific sandwiches listed in the article.  There are several popular ones not on this list.  The first thing that came to my mind was whether chicken and turkey were considered to be the same.  Then I thought about the Club sandwich—a combination of the BLT, turkey with some ham thrown in.  And speaking of ham, there's also the Ham sandwich and its close relative the Ham and Cheese sandwich.

And, of course, there are also those two all-American creations that are extremely popular—the Hamburger and the favorite at baseball games, the Hot Dog.

Morality In America

A week ago I came across the just released results of an interesting poll conducted by CNN delving into the same behaviors as a poll conducted by Time Magazine in 1987.  It tackles several behaviors falling under the general category of morality.  The survey shows an interesting shift in American attitudes in the nearly 3 decades since the Time Magazine poll.

In the 1987 Time Magazine poll, 7 out of the 8 listed behaviors were considered by the majority of Americans to be morally wrong.  In 2014, only 3 of the behaviors are thought to be morally wrong by the majority of those surveyed.

Public opinion has changed most drastically on the topics of marijuana and homosexuality.  Interestingly, the top 2 behaviors considered morally wrong in 1987 are the same 2 that top today's list—being married and having sex with someone else, and cheating on your taxes.

In the 1987 Time Magazine poll, the 8 issues considered (listed with the same wording used on the poll) and the percentage of those surveyed who believed the described action to be morally wrong are:

     Being married and having sex with someone else       92%

     Cheating on your taxes                                             86%

     Engaging in homosexual behavior                              82%

     Smoking marijuana                                                   70%

     Having an abortion                                                   62%

     Looking at a pornographic magazine                         58%

     Living with someone when you're not married           54%

     Drinking alcoholic beverages                                    38%

In the 2014 CNN poll, the 8 issues considered and the percentage of those surveyed who believed the described action to be morally wrong are:

     Being married and having sex with someone else       93%

     Cheating on your taxes                                             90%

     Having an abortion                                                   57%

     Engaging in homosexual behavior                              50%

     Looking at a pornographic magazine                         46%

     Smoking marijuana                                                   35%

     Living with someone when you're not married           32%

     Drinking alcoholic beverages                                    16%

The CNN poll was conducted via telephone interviews January 3-5, 2014.  The article I read did not mention the criteria for selecting those interviewed for the poll.

WHO ORDERS DELIVERY FOOD?

I recently came across the results of a poll released December 2013 about having food delivered, primarily to the home but sometimes to the office.  The first thing that struck me was the poll's topic—not a political issue, or anything else commonly seen in the daily news headlines, subjects constantly demanding yet another poll.  This one was about people who, either via phone call or on the internet, order food to be delivered to them and where these people live.  In other words, which American city orders the most delivery food.

Here are some of the results of that poll.

Chicago is the number one U.S. city for late night food delivery with 14% of the city's total orders occurring between 10PM and 6AM.  New York City and San Francisco are tied for second place, and right behind them are Los Angeles and Washington D.C. tied for third with 10% of their orders outside normal business hours.  Chicago's place of honor as number one is probably due to it being the coldest of the cities that placed in the poll.  When the wind chill temperature is below zero, no one wants to go out when they can have food delivered while they stay inside, all warm and toasty.

For late night deliveries, pizza is king of the hill, taking the top spot in kind of food ordered in all surveyed cities…except Los Angeles.  During dinner hours, the top order in all cities was some sort of Asian food—Thai/Vietnamese in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago; Chinese in Washington; and Japanese/Sushi in New York.

Los Angeles was the most consistent between dinner and late night orders of the cities included in the poll, with its choice of food.  Following its leading choice of Thai/Vietnamese, Los Angeles went for Chinese, Italian (other than pizza), pizza, and Indian with Indian and pizza switching spots after 10PM.

Washington D.C. is the only city where Middle Eastern/Mediterranean food makes both the dinner list (at #5) and the late night list (at #3).  Mexican barely made the list for late night Chicago (at #5) and didn't show up on any other city's list.

What's your favorite type of delivery food?  Or do you keep your freezer filled with food items that can be easily and quickly run through the microwave thus putting the ready to eat food into your hands even quicker than ordering and waiting for delivery?

Those We Lost In 2013…

As with every year, the world lost many people from entertainment, politics, and the worldwide platform in general.  I narrowed down a long list to a cross-section of 13 notables for the year 2013.  In trying to decide the order for the list of names, I finally settled on chronological for date of death starting with the most recent rather than alphabetical.

Joan Fontaine, Actress—died December 15, 2013

Best Actress Oscar winner for the 1941 Alfred Hitchcock film SUSPICION, starring opposite Cary Grant.  Sister of Oscar winning actress Olivia de Havilland.

Peter O'Toole, Actor—died December 14, 2013

Probably best known for his leading role as the title character in LAWRENCE OF ARABIA.  Nominated 8 times for a best actor Oscar.  Turned down an honorary Oscar for his collective body of work.  My personal favorite of Peter O'Toole's movies is the 1982 comedy MY FAVORITE YEAR.

Nelson Mandela, South African President—died December 5, 2013

Prominent political figure in South Africa's politics, imprisoned for many years because of his fight to end Apartheid, emerged from prison to be elected President of South Africa.

Paul Walker, Actor—died November 20, 2013

Most recently noted for his work in the FAST AND FURIOUS movies, ironically died in a car crash.

Tom Clancy, Author—died October 1, 2013

Gave us many best selling novels, several made into movies such as THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, PATRIOT GAMES and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER with several different actors portraying his Jack Ryan character in various films.  SHADOW RECRUIT, the most recent movie featuring Clancy's Jack Ryan character, is scheduled for release in the U.S. on January 17, 2014.

James Gandolfini, Actor—died June 19, 2013

Best known for his role as Tony Soprano in the HBO television series THE SOPRANOS.

Jean Stapleton, Actress—died May 31, 2013

A long acting career, but she's best known as Edith Bunker, wife of the outspoken Archie Bunker on ALL IN THE FAMILY, the ground breaking television series from the 1970s.

George Jones, Singer—died April 26, 2013

A long career as a country singer.

Jonathan Winters, Comedian—died April 11, 2013

A long career as a comedian and comedy actor, including the role of Robin Williams and Pam Dawber's son on the television series MORK & MINDY.  I loved him in IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD along with several other brilliant comedy actors.

Annette Funicello, Actress—died April 8, 2013

Started her career as one of the original Mickey Mouse Club Mouseketeers followed by several starring movie roles before her career was short circuited by Multiple Sclerosis which she battled for many years.

Margaret Thatcher, Prime Minister United Kingdom—died April 8, 2013

The first and so far only woman to ever hold the office as the United Kingdom's Prime Minister.  She served three terms 1979-1990 and was known as the Iron Lady.  In 1992, the title of Baroness was bestowed on her.

Roger Ebert, Film Critic—died April 4, 2013

Long time film critic for the Chicago Sun Times, partnered on television for many years with film critic Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune where they became well-known for their thumbs up and thumbs down movie reviews.  In 1975 he won a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.

Ed Koch, New York City Mayor—died February 1, 2013

He served three terms as Mayor from 1978 through 1989 and is credited with saving New York City from bankruptcy.

As I said, this is only a small cross-section of those we lost in 2013.

New Year's Resolutions You'll Be Able To Keep…and other miscellaneous end of year stuff

New Year's resolutions have basically become an annual joke.  Every January 1 we make resolutions for the upcoming year and if we're lucky, they remain valid for the rest of the month.

So, this year how about making some resolutions you'll actually be able to keep during 2014?  Here's a list of several such resolutions.  I hope you accept these suggestions in the spirit of humor in which they are offered.  If I've offended anyone, I apologize in advance.

1.  Gain Weight.  Let's face it, you already have a start on this one with all the holiday meals, candy, beverages, and snacks.

2.  Go Deeper Into Debt.  You probably have a head start on this one, too, from holiday gift shopping.  After all, even buying new things for yourself…well, it was probably stuff you needed and with all the great sales this year who could resist?

3.  Spend More Money.  This goes hand-in-hand with the second item on the list.  Spend it now while you're still physically able to get out to do it.

4.  Don't Get A Better Job.  Since having any job is better than not having one, be happy with status quo.

5.  Whatever Shape You're In Is Fine.  Seriously…round is a perfectly acceptable shape.

6.  Don't Go Back To School.  Look at your current life and time schedule.  Now add a part time college schedule to that plus the cost of tuition (probably the same amount as that new 80-inch HDTV home theater with Dolby Surround Sound you bought in item two on the list) and the cost of expensive college textbooks.  Hmmm…a fine bottle of rare vintage wine or a bottle of aged single malt scotch vs. Concepts of Economics Vol. 1.

7.  Drink More Alcohol.  Open that fine bottle of wine or scotch and watch your new 80-inch HDTV.

8.  Smoke Like A Chimney.  When someone chastises you for putting second hand smoke out there, ask them if they've traded in their gas-guzzling car for a bicycle.

9.  Stay At Home for your vacation.  If, however, you prefer to find toilet paper that's hard enough to scrape paint, really weird television, and even weirder food…then travel out of the country.

And last but not least…

10.  Don't Volunteer!

And now for something completely different (with apologies to Monty Python for stealing…uh, I mean borrowing…their catch phrase).

As a follow up to Christmas, a few words about that much maligned holiday treat, the butt of so many jokes, that humble yet seemingly inedible concoction—fruitcake.

Food historians theorize that fruitcake (any cake in which dried fruits and nuts try to coexist with cake batter) is older than Moses.  Ancient Egyptians entombed fruitcake and Romans carried it into battle, probably for the same reason.  Fruitcake was built to last and it did, well into medieval times.

It was in the 18^th century that fruitcake achieved totemic status.  At that time nut-harvesting farmers encased fruits and nuts in a cake-like substance to save for the next harvest as a sort of good luck charm.

And thus the problem.  Any cake that is not meant to be eaten doesn't deserve to be classified as food.

Our love/hate relationship with fruitcake began in the early 20^th century when the first mail-order fruitcakes became fashionable gifts.  It ended up as a mass-produced product using barely recognizable fruits and packed into cans as heavy as barbell weights.

And another something different…

While celebrating the arrival of the New Year, there's one thing you should keep in mind—the darker the liquor, the bigger the hangover.  According to a new study that compares the after effects of drinking bourbon vs. vodka, what sounds like an old wives' tale is true…to a point.

Brownish colored spirits such as whiskey and rum contain greater amounts of congeners than clear liquors such as vodka and gin.  And what are congeners, you might ask?  They are substances that occur naturally or are added to alcohol during the production and aging process, many of which are toxic.  They contribute to the alcohol's color, odor, and taste.  They also interfere with cell function, and I'm NOT talking about your mobile phone. :)  And they viciously punish your head and tummy the next morning.  According to the study, bourbon is aged in oak barrels and has thirty-seven times as many congeners as vodka, which is heavily filtered to remove impurities.

Drinking in the study was relatively moderate compared to some New Year's Eve binges.  The average blood-alcohol content of the survey participants was 0.1 percent, somewhere between 0.09 ("mildly intoxicated" and considered legally over the limit in most states), and 0.15 ("visibly drunk" and definitely on your way to jail).  The study's findings may not translate to your holiday party.

The bottom line, however, is that congeners are not the primary culprit in the dreaded hangover.  The credit goes to the alcohol itself

Wishing everyone a happy AND SAFE New Year's Eve and a marvelous New Year.  May 2014 bring you happiness and health.

AND PEACE ON EARTH FOR EVERYONE

The Legend of St. Nicholas

Who is that man in red? The man who, every Christmas Eve, brazenly breaks into people's homes, helps himself to cookies and milk, and leaves things behind resulting in a mess of wrapping paper and ribbon for others to clean up the next morning. Reindeer and a heavily laden sleigh can't be good for the roof. Soot from a chimney tracked all over the floor…something else left behind for others to clean.

Yet every year we anxiously anticipate his arrival, track his progress through the skies, and welcome him into our homes.

The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back hundreds of years to a monk named St. Nicholas. It is believed that Nicholas was born sometime around 280 A.D. in Patara, near Myra in modern-day Turkey. Much admired for his piety and kindness, St. Nicholas became the subject of many legends. It is said that he gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick. One of the best known of the St. Nicholas stories is that he saved three poor sisters from being sold into slavery or prostitution by their father when he provided them with a dowry so they could be married. Over the course of many years, Nicholas' popularity spread and he became known as the protector of children and sailors. His feast day is celebrated on the anniversary of his death, December 6. This was traditionally considered a lucky day to make large purchases or to get married. By the Renaissance, St. Nicholas was the most popular saint in Europe. Even after the Protestant Reformation, when the veneration of saints began to be discouraged, St. Nicholas maintained a positive reputation, especially in Holland.

Sinter Klaas Comes to New York

St. Nicholas made his first inroads into American popular culture towards the end of the 18th century. In December 1773, and again in 1774, a New York newspaper reported that groups of Dutch families had gathered to honor the anniversary of his death.

The name Santa Claus evolved from Nick's Dutch nickname, Sinter Klaas, a shortened form of Sint Nikolaas (Dutch for Saint Nicholas). In 1804, John Pintard, a member of the New York Historical Society, distributed woodcuts of St. Nicholas at the society's annual meeting. The background of the engraving contains now-familiar Santa images including stockings filled with toys and fruit hung over a fireplace. In 1809, Washington Irving helped to popularize the Sinter Klaas stories when he referred to St. Nicholas as the patron saint of New York in his book, The History of New York. As his prominence grew, Sinter Klaas was described as everything from a rascal with a blue three-cornered hat, red waistcoat, and yellow stockings to a man wearing a broad-brimmed hat and a "huge pair of Flemish trunk hose."

Shopping Mall Santas

Gift-giving, mainly centered around children, has been an important part of the Christmas celebration since the holiday's rejuvenation in the early 19th century. Stores began to advertise Christmas shopping in 1820, and by the 1840s, newspapers were creating separate sections for holiday advertisements, which often featured images of the newly-popular Santa Claus. In 1841, thousands of children visited a Philadelphia shop to see a life-size Santa Claus model. It was only a matter of time before stores began to attract children, and their parents, with the lure of a peek at a live Santa Claus. In the early 1890s, the Salvation Army needed money to pay for the free Christmas meals they provided to needy families. They began dressing up unemployed men in Santa Claus suits and sending them into the streets of New York to solicit donations. Those familiar Salvation Army Santas have been ringing bells on the street corners of American cities ever since.

A Santa by Any Other Name

18th-century America's Santa Claus was not the only St. Nicholas-inspired gift-giver to make an appearance at Christmastime. Similar figures were popular all over the world. Christkind or Kris Kringle was believed to deliver presents to well-behaved Swiss and German children. Meaning Christ child, Christkind is an angel-like figure often accompanied by St. Nicholas on his holiday missions. In Scandinavia, a jolly elf named Jultomten was thought to deliver gifts in a sleigh drawn by goats. English legend explains that Father Christmas visits each home on Christmas Eve to fill children's stockings with holiday treats. Pere Noel is responsible for filling the shoes of French children. In Russia, it is believed that an elderly woman named Babouschka purposely gave the wise men wrong directions to Bethlehem so that they couldn't find Jesus. Later, she felt remorseful, but could not find the men to undo the damage. To this day, on January 5, Babouschka visits Russian children leaving gifts at their bedsides in the hope that one of them is the baby Jesus and she will be forgiven. In Italy, a similar story exists about a woman called La Befana, a kindly witch who rides a broomstick down the chimneys of Italian homes to deliver toys into the stockings of lucky children.

The Ninth Reindeer

Rudolph, "the most famous reindeer of all," was born over a hundred years after his eight flying counterparts. The red-nosed wonder was the creation of Robert L. May, a copywriter at the Montgomery Ward department store.

In 1939, May wrote a Christmas-themed story-poem to help bring holiday traffic into his store. Using a similar rhyme pattern to Moore's 'Twas the Night Before Christmas, May told the story of Rudolph, a young reindeer who was teased by the other deer because of his large, glowing, red nose. But, When Christmas Eve turned foggy and Santa worried that he wouldn't be able to deliver gifts that night, the former outcast saved Christmas by leading the sleigh with the light of his red nose. Rudolph's message—that given the opportunity, a liability can be turned into an asset—proved popular. Montgomery Ward sold almost two and a half million copies of the story in 1939. When it was reissued in 1946, the book sold over three and half million copies. Several years later, one of May's friends, Johnny Marks, wrote a short song based on Rudolph's story (1949). It was recorded by Gene Autry and sold over two million copies. Since then, the story has been translated into 25 languages and been made into a television movie, narrated by Burl Ives, which has charmed audiences since 1964.

 Wishing everyone a happy holiday season and most of all 
PEACE ON EARTH